Running Header: Video Game Product Placements

Since the early 1980\u27s there has been an increase in the use of product placement in the fields of motion pictures and broadcast television. Recently, companies have begun to use product placements in video games to increase exposure to their products. Being an interactive media, video games allow the user to interact with the advertisement, unlike motion pictures and broadcast television. The present study investigates game players\u27 recall of product placements in video games. Two focus groups of high school students and church members were monitored playing the FIFA World Cup 2002 video game. A pre-test/post-test was administered regarding the subjects\u27 recall of brands advertised in the video games. The results of the tests were compared with a content analysis to see if a relationship exists between the products that the players viewed in the game and how their opinions may have been altered

Product placement in video games as a marketing strategy: an attempt to analysis in Disney company

Esta investigación de carácter cualitativo que se aproxima al método del caso intenta examinar la aplicación de la estrategia del product placement en el ámbito de los videojuegos a fin de identificar las diferencias en enfoques de product placement más clásicos y aquellos otros más centrado en la marca. Se ha escogido el estudio de Walt Disney, empleando tanto entrevistas con personal de la compañía, como dinámicas de grupo con usuarios de videojuegos de esta empresa. Los resultados indican que enfoques más recientes del product placement resultan más adecuados para destacar la notoriedad de la marca analizada. Adicionalmente, los consumidores opinan que este tipo de estrategia es menos intrusivo y más adecuado para el público de los niños. This qualitative case study research examined product placement strategies in video games to identify the differences in the effectiveness of traditional placement approaches compared to the branded entertainment approach, which involves the use of proprietary character in a video game. Although video gaming has increased in popularity in the past decade and uses product placement strategies, the effectiveness of the different strategies has not been previously examined. The research used a case study methodology examining the use of product placement strategies at Walt Disney with primary data obtained from interviews with Disney staffs from Disney Interactive Marketing Group and a focus group of consumers of Disney video game products. The results of the study indicated that the branded entertainment approach to product placement enhanced existing awareness of the branded character and the parent Disney brand. In addition, the consumers of the video game product perceived the branded entertainment approach as less intrusive than a traditional product placement in which a branded product was inserted into the video, audio or action content of the video game. The consumers also perceived the branded entertainment approach more suitable than traditional product placement for video games aimed at children.product placement strategies, effectiveness, qualitative study estratategias de product placement, eficacia, estudio cualitativo

Recall and recognition of in-game advertising : the role of game control

Digital gaming has become one of the largest entertainment sectors worldwide, increasingly turning the medium into a promising vehicle for advertisers. As a result, the inclusion of advertising messages in digital games or in-game advertising (IGA) is expected to grow steadily over the course of the following years. However, much work is still needed to maximize the effectiveness of IGA. The aim of the study was to contribute to IGA effectiveness research by analyzing the impact of two factors on the processing of IGA in terms of brand awareness. The primary objective was to investigate the effect of a person’s sense of involvement related to the control and movement mechanisms in a game (i.e. kinesthetic involvement). A within-subjects experiment was conducted in which control over a racing game was varied by manipulating game controller type, resulting in two experimental conditions (symbolic versus mimetic controller). Results show that the variation in game controller has a significant effect on the recall and recognition of the brands integrated into the game, and that this effect can be partially brought back to players’ perceived control over the game: when a game is easier to control, the control mechanisms require less conscious attention, freeing attentional resources that can be subsequently spent on other elements of the game such as IGA. A second factor that was taken into account in the study was brand prominence. The influence of both the size and spatial position of in-game advertisements was examined. Findings demonstrate that there are significant changes in effectiveness between different types of placements. Spatial position seems to be the most important placement characteristic, with central brand placements obtaining the highest recall and recognition scores. The effect of ad size is much smaller, with the effectiveness of the large placements not differing significantly from the effectiveness of their smaller counterparts

Product Placement and the Effects of Persuasion Knowledge

This study examines the effect of persuasion knowledge and cognitive busyness on attitude toward a brand embedded in a popular movie. Product placement is filling an increasingly important role in marketing strategy as conventional techniques have been rendered ineffective by their own ubiquity. Cognitive busyness was hypothesized to cause a product placement message to be processed on a superficial, peripheral level. If joined with persuasion knowledge, the subject’s lack of ability to devote resources to critically evaluate the message would activate compartmentalized knowledge of products and brands increasing the ease of this information’s mental accessibility and thus aid the formation of favorable brand attitudes. A controlled laboratory experiment reveals that when viewers watch the movie in a natural setting, viewers with persuasion knowledge exhibit lower attitude toward the placed brand than viewers without persuasion knowledge. However, such backlash brand-damaging effects are absent, if not reversed, when viewers watch the movie in a cognitively busy setting

Interactive Food and Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age

Looks at the practices of food and beverage industry marketers in reaching youth via digital videos, cell phones, interactive games and social networking sites. Recommends imposing governmental regulations on marketing to children and adolescents

Bridging the gap: building better tools for game development

The following thesis is about questioning how we design game making tools, and how developers may build easier tools to use. It is about the highlighting the inadequacies of current game making programs as well as introducing Goal-Oriented Design as a possible solution. It is also about the processes of digital product development, and reflecting on the necessity for both design and development methods to work cohesively for meaningful results. Interaction Design is in essence the abstracting of key relations that matter to the contextual environment. The result of attempting to tie the Interaction Design principles, Game Design issues together with Software Development practices has led to the production of the User-Centred game engine, PlayBoard

Persuasive design of a mobile energy conservation game with direct feedback and social cues

Pervasive gaming has the potential of transforming the home into a persuasive environment in which the user can learn about appliances and their electricity consumption. Power Explorer is a mobile game with a special sensing approach that provides real-time electricity measurements and feedback when the user switches on and off devices in the home. The game was developed based on persuasive principles to provide an engaging means to learn about energy with positive and negative feedback and social feedback from peers on real energy actions in the home. We present the design and rationale of this game and discuss how pervasive games can be viewed from a persuasive and learning point of view